How Is A Psychiatric Diagnosis Made

Diagnosis of a mental disorder is made from the patient's history, observation of the patient's current behavior, talking with the patient, and psychological diagnostic tests.

A doctor or therapist may administer a Rorschach Inkblot Test, the Thematic Apperception Test, in which you explain what you think to be happening in some pictures, and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory in which you answer a lengthy questionnaire about your thoughts and feelings. An IQ test may also be part of the workup.

If you don't have the money to pay for treatment you may still have options depending on where you live. Even in the United States, which does not have publicly funded health care for most illnesses, there are government-supported mental health clinics in many communities, as well as private non-profit clinics that charge their patients based on their ability to pay.

Many psychologists and psychiatrists offer sliding scales, where they charge lower income patients less money. Not everyone offers this, so you have to call around.

Some psychiatric medications are expensive; treatment with Abilify or Seroquel for schizophrenia costs thousands of dollars a year. The government might assist in the cost of your medicine, and some drug companies offer "compassionate drug plans" in which qualifying patients receive their medicine free of charge directly from the drug company. In addition, the drug companies often give psychiatrists free advertising sample packs of drugs, which the psychiatrists then give to their patients who cannot afford to buy them.

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